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DRI Support Staff
The scientific and administrative staff at the Diclonius Research Institute are defined here as everyone not directly in the service of either Room Monitor Doctor Kurama or either Professor Kakuzawa or Chief Kakuzawa, though in the end, all there worked for one or all of these three in some capacity. In this instance, though, the focus is on those not serving as Security Guards and not a named character with a distinct position and history, such as Arakawa, Isobe, Shirakawa, Saito, or Nousou. Just as the security staff can be speculated to have military or police backgrounds, it is safe to assume much if not all of the support staff had scientific or medical training. Or, in the case of clerks and secretaries, who appear to be in the dark as to the true nature of the company (i.e. Kisaragi), would have administrative and clerical experience. Researchers not dealing directly with Diclonius would need to be able to understand data regarding them and have knowledge of their vulnerabilities, such as the impairment caused by losing a horn. Knowledge of life signs norms and anomalies would also seem to have a scientific education of some sort as a prerequisite. Just where the founders drew the staff from or whether most had a roughly equal degree of expertise among themselves (although this was likely below the standout and sometimes unstable geniuses known in the series) is not known. Given the work with factors once entirely unknown to science and cutting-edge research performed on-site, it would not be surprising to find all of these were among Japan's best and brightest. Given security concerns and top-level secrecy evidenced even before the Japanese government's falling out with Chief Kakuzawa, it would also seem likely that staff came from a pool of Japanese citizens, more easily background-checked and if needed, kept under the government's scrutiny and control. A great many instances of staff treating their charges with a noted lack of empathy and even overtly dehumanizing behavior are hallmarks of the series. One explanation is that events in the series' narrative, as well as extrapolation and speculation of further staff losses, kept empathy within certain boundaries. Kurama's story is one of arriving at the DRI objecting to the treatment of the young girls there. Arguably his many losses to the situation ground this empathy down even as he euthanized new Diclonius births to spare the parents this choice. Possibly he saw this action as saving the girls from the pain of one day killing their families when their powers emerge. Using this as a model, merely being on the premises and performing day-to-day duties, along with losing friends and co-workers to various incidents could easily erode both sympathy and empathy. Using Saito and Nousou's examples, it is possible to localize empathy merely to those test subjects one dealt with most directly. If one is treating one's direct charge with some degree, real or imagined, of self-perceived tenderness and affection, then if others treat theirs badly or with contempt, this then is their concern. The overall situation separates from the particular workday case, with seemingly one's circumstance set apart from the corruption surrounding them. While it remains unknown what extent other staff had such particular position over a single Diclonius or small group of them, it also seems unlikely most did, given the unique status of Mariko Kurama and her viable clones. In any event, anyone who perhaps thought their captive test subjects shared their affection outside of Kurama's virtual adoption of Nana would likely find that, just as Saito and Nousou did, that this was decidedly not the case. Consciences mollified for those enacting depredation may do little for those made to endure such cruelty. A more frightening possibility is brought up by looking at the utter contempt the Kakuzawas showed for anyone not their kin or outside of Lucy. While not good examples due to their secret agendas, they might well have recruited based less on scientific genius (innovation-wise, again, well-trained staff being a minimum and a must) than on tests and profiles indicating a lack of empathy from the start. Just to avoid more tender feelings keeping their staff restricted, the Kakuzawas could have and in some cases likely did seek out sociopaths and even psychopaths, so long as they also showed the needed expertise on other levels. A famous series of tests from the 1960's called The Milgram Experiments attempted to ascertain why otherwise moral people under regimes like those in Nazi Germany acquiesced to performing evil deeds. These experiments have since fallen into profound question about deceptive approaches and even poor methodology tainting results. Still, it is not outside the realm of possibility that the Kakuzawas used more refined variants in this sort of study. To test their potential staff for a decided lack of empathy and also check for those more likely to go along to get along, obeying abhorrent orders out of a need for pay, recognition or only fear of not doing so. Whichever of these possibilities is correct (and all three could easily be true), it seems that, even before Kurama's arrival, the staff thought little of the pain and terror felt by their charges. This contempt found itself aided by the oldest of justifications in this arena: That certain people are not, in fact, people at all, and may be used of as one saw fit and disposed of like trash when the time comes. Owing to their massive physical repulsiveness, the Clone Diclonii were likely at the dead bottom of all such poor treatment, and it is from that treatment that all payments finally came due. One thing can be said unequivocally about the support staff: To a one, save Arakawa, one and all present met their end when a combination of factors freed the Clone Diclonii from their underground captivity, with the clones citing their treatment as a wholesale slaughter began. Drawn in an adult yet still 'Kawaii' look, two quivering female members of the staff meet their fates. While drawn in a 'cute' manner, it is worth stepping back to realize that likely no one left there by this point was not a knowing participant in activities that quickly explain and perhaps even justify such bloodletting. The staff seemed to be broken up into categories. Their tasks, whether set or variable is another unknown, though specialization in such a large facility, especially over the course of nearly a decade would seem most likely for at least some of the staff. * Direct Attendants - Likely the least skilled of the scientific staff, charged with feeding and cleaning up the girls' holding areas, possibly also made to dispose of the dead, Diclonius and Human both. * Outside Monitors - Those made to watch footage of the girls could have been just Security guards, but it seems likely at least some were science staff instead, recording observations and passing them on to their superiors. This procedure would require some knowhow in these matters. * Analysts - Even given the acumen of the super-geniuses that worked above them, their ability to do all the legwork of the massive projects set before them (Weaponizing the Virus, Cloning, overseeing Mariko, isolating the source of infections) by themselves is not credible. It would seem at least a good portion of the support staff did nothing but process the research done by higher-ups. As with Security, contracted terms of service and the ability to leave the island at will are unknowns. Given their workload and the difficulty especially in their case of finding skilled replacements, it would seem likely many spent months if not years on the island facility without leave, break or vacation. * Clerical - Secretaries like Kisaragi and records archivists. Whether they were decent people plugged into a corrupt culture or cold souls from the start, the DRI Support Staff seemed ultimately guilty of hubris, believing that such a situation could endure forever, when so very many pure unknowns predominated. Like their leader the Chief, it was the questions they stopped asking or failed to bring up that brought them down, almost one and all. Category:Characters Category:Essays Category:Article